thomas_friends_cgi_seriesfandomcom-20200214-history
Thomas and the Emergency Cable
Thomas and the Emergency Cable is the tenth episode of the eighteenth season. Plot One day, Annie and Clarabel are watching the passengers getting on and off the train at Knapford station. They see a woman with a very big hat, an old man being helped into the carriage and a man they have seen before. The man in question travels up and down the branch line all day, looking through binoculars. When Thomas and his carriages arrive at Dryaw, the man gets off and starts looking through his binoculars. The coaches are confused by his actions and Thomas says he might be a station inspector, but the coaches are sure that is not right; the man spends a lot of time examining trees. Thomas jokes that the man may be a tree inspector. Later on, Thomas arrives back at Dryaw to pick up the passengers. Unsurprisingly, the man with the binoculars is waiting. Thomas decides to ask the man what sort of inspector he is. The man explains that he is not an inspector, but the bird watcher who is looking for a very rare bird. As Thomas puffs on his way, he suddenly gets a shock when somebody on the train pulls the emergency cable inside Annie. Thinking there is an emergency, the guard applies the coaches' brakes. It is not long before Thomas grinds to a halt and the guard goes to see what the matter is. Inside Annie, the guard sees the bird watcher with his hand on one of the emergency cords. The man sheepishly explains that he thought he had heard the very rare bird and, in his state of excitement, pulled the emergency cord so he could get a look at it. The guard sternly informs the man that spotting a bird does not constitute an emergency on a railway. There is more trouble to come when Thomas tries to pull away. Annie has developed a wheel flat and one of her wheels will not turn at all. Annie has to be uncoupled and left behind while all of the passengers squeeze into Clarabel. Thomas is very upset about having to leave one of his beloved coaches behind, but is very cross with the bird watcher. The other passengers are also very cross with the bird watcher. When the train arrives at Knapford station, the Fat Controller is waiting and reminds the bird watcher what an emergency cable is really for. The bird watcher says he is very sorry and promises to never pull the emergency cable for such a trivial matter again. That evening, Thomas takes Rocky and a flatbed to collect Annie. He then takes his damaged coach to the Sodor Steamworks. Unfortunately, Victor cannot find any coach wheels to fit Annie and says she will have to wait for a new delivery. The next day, Thomas and Clarabel start to miss Annie terribly. Thomas feels very angry about having one of his coaches taken out of commission by a silly bird watcher and hopes that they never see him again. Unfortunately, Thomas does indeed see the man again. He is waiting at Dryaw station. Thomas stubbornly refuses to stop at the station. Then, as he is barely out of the station, someone pulls the emergency cord again. Then, the grumpy woman in the big hat complains that she wanted to get off at Dryaw. Thomas apologises and has to reverse back to the platform. The lady with the big hat gets off and the bird watcher climbs aboard. When Thomas arrives back at Knapford, it's his turn to receive a reprimand from the Fat Controller. Thomas is told that he must stop at every station regardless of the mood he is in. The Fat Controller says that he is sure the bird watcher has learned his lesson about pulling the emergency cable without good reason. Thomas has now learned his lesson, too. Eventually, Annie returns to work with Thomas and Clarabel and the three of them are happy once again. When Annie asks Thomas how the Steamworks got her new wheel so fast, they all ended up laughing when Thomas revealed that he told Victor that "it was an emergency," gaining him some commentry from his very amused coaches. The bird watcher even finds his rare bird. Characters * Thomas * Victor * Annie and Clarabel * Sir Topham Hatt * The Schoolchildren * The Welsh Bird Watcher * The Lady with the Big Hat * Thomas' Guard * Rocky (does not speak) * Edward (cameo) * James (cameo) * Bertie (cameo) * The Knapford Stationmaster (cameo) * The Dryaw Stationmaster (cameo) * The Teacher (cameo) * The Bird Watcher (cameo) * The Blond-haired Boy (cameo) * The Ginger-haired Boy (cameo) * Madeleine (cameo) * One of Bridget Hatt's Friends (cameo) * Dowager Hatt's Friends (cameo) * The Grumpy Passenger (cameo) * Madeleine's Father (cameo) * The Lady in Yellow Dress and Hat (cameo) * Harold (mentioned)